1. Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to puttying apparatus, in general, and to an automated device for puttying the edge portions of large numbers of elongated plywood boards, in particular.
2. Description of the Prior Art: The most common tool known for applying putty to a surface is a manually operated putty knife. Such a device is used to spread putty over a surface to be treated in order to fill gaps, cracks, etc. in the surface. Such a device is adequate for small-scale jobs such as filling a relatively small number of surface irregularities which may be present in a surface of limited size. However, such a device is of little use when it is desired to quickly and efficiently putty large surface irregularities which may be present in a mass production environment involving large numbers of surfaces which need to be quickly and continuously treated. The use of a hand-held putty knife in such a mass production operation would not only reduce the operation to a virtual standstill, the consistency and thickness with which the putty is applied to the surfaces could not be uniformly controlled, even if applied by a highly-skilled laborer.
An advantage exists, therefore, for an automated device which can quickly, efficiently, and uniformly apply putty to large numbers of surfaces which need to be quickly and continuously treated, i.e., in a mass production operation.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an automated puttying device for filling surface irregularities in large numbers of surfaces in a rapid and continuous manner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an automated puttying device for applying a uniform and controlled thickness of putty to large numbers of surfaces in a rapid and continuous manner.
It is a further object to provide a device for puttying the side edges of elongated plywood boards such that when the boards are further treated, i.e., by sanding and painting, the boards will have the appearance of unstratified solid wood boards.
Still other objects and advantages will become apparent when one considers the attached drawings and the description of the invention presented hereinbelow.